Expropriation Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-21)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Expropriation Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  Court

  Court means the Federal Court; (tribunal)

  Crown

  Crown means Her Majesty in right of Canada; (Couronne)

  expropriated

  expropriated means taken by the Crown under Part I; (exproprié)

  expropriated interest

  expropriated interest[Repealed, 2011, c. 21, s. 127]

  expropriated interest or right

  expropriated interest or right means any estate, interest or right that has been lost, in whole or in part, by the registration of a notice of confirmation under Part I; (droit ou intérêt exproprié)

  interest in land

  interest in land[Repealed, 2011, c. 21, s. 127]

  land

  land includes mines, buildings, structures, other things in the nature of fixtures and objects that are immovable within the meaning of Quebec civil law and also includes minerals whether precious or base, on, above or below the surface, but excludes minerals above the surface in Quebec; (bien-fonds)

  Minister

  Minister

  • (a) in relation to the provisions of this Act other than Part II, means the Minister of Public Works and Government Services or, for such periods and in relation to such matters to which the powers, duties and functions of the Minister under this Act extend as may be specified in any instrument of delegation signed by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and published in the Canada Gazette, such other Minister described in paragraph (b) as is named in the instrument, and

  • (b) in relation to Part II, means a Minister presiding over a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act; (ministre)

  notice of confirmation

  notice of confirmation means a notice of confirmation described in section 14; (avis de confirmation)

  notice of intention

  notice of intention means a notice of intention described in section 5; (avis d’intention)

  owner

  owner[Repealed, 2011, c. 21, s. 127]

  register

  register includes file or deposit; (enregistrer)

  registrar

  registrar means the officer with whom the titles relating to real property and immovables are registered or recorded. (registrateur)

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (2) For the purposes of this Act,

  • (a) an interest in land relates to any land in Canada elsewhere than in Quebec;

  • (b) an immovable real right relates to any land in Quebec and includes the right of a lessee of the land;

  • (c) an owner of an interest is a person who has a right, estate or interest in any land in Canada elsewhere than in Quebec; and

  • (d) a holder of a right is a person who has a right in any land in Quebec, including a lessee of the land.

Marginal note:Sending of notices and other documents

• 3 (1) For the purposes of this Act, where any notice or other document or a copy thereof is required or authorized to be sent to a person other than the Minister or the Attorney General of Canada,

  • (a) the document or copy shall be sent to that person by being mailed by registered mail addressed to him at his latest known address or, if his address is unknown, by being published in at least one issue of a publication, if any, in general circulation within the area in which the land to which the document relates is situated; and

  • (b) the document or copy shall be deemed to have been sent to that person at the time when it was mailed or first published in accordance with paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where any objection or other document is to be served on the Minister, it shall be served on him by being left at, or by being sent by registered mail to, the office of the Minister, but if any such document is sent by registered mail to the office of the Minister service thereof shall be deemed not to be effected until it has been received at that office.

PART IExpropriation

Acquisition and Abandonment of Land

Marginal note:Authority to expropriate

• 4 (1) Any interest in land or immovable real right, including any of the interests or rights mentioned in sections 7 and 7.1, that, in the opinion of the Minister, is required by the Crown for a public work or other public purpose may be expropriated by the Crown in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) No interest in land that is Category IA-N land, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Naskapi and the Cree-Naskapi Commission Act, may be expropriated under this Part without the consent of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2.1) No interest in land that is Category IA land, as defined in subsection 2(2) of the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee Governance Agreement Act, may be expropriated under this Part without the consent of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) No right or interest in lands that are shíshálh lands, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the shíshálh Nation Self-Government Act, may be expropriated under this Part without the consent of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4) No interest in settlement land as defined in section 2 of the Yukon Surface Rights Board Act may be expropriated under this Part without the consent of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (5) No interest in Tetlit Gwich’in Yukon land may be expropriated under this Part without the consent of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Notice of intention

  (6) Where an interest in land referred to in subsection (4) or (5) is to be expropriated, notice of intention to obtain the consent of the Governor in Council shall be given to the Yukon first nation or Gwich’in Tribal Council, as the case may be, on completion of any public hearing and submission of a report to the Minister required by section 10 or, if no hearing is held, on the expiration of the period of thirty days referred to in section 9.

• Marginal note:Definition of Tetlit Gwich’in Yukon land

  (7) In this section, Tetlit Gwich’in Yukon land means land as described in Annex B, as amended from time to time, to Appendix C of the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement between Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada and the Gwich’in, as represented by the Gwich’in Tribal Council, that was approved, given effect and declared valid by the Gwich’in Land Claim Settlement Act.

Marginal note:Request by railway company to expropriate

• 4.1 (1) If a railway company, as defined in section 87 of the Canada Transportation Act, requires an interest in land or immovable real right for the purposes of its railway and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase the interest or right, the railway company may request the Minister of Transport to have the Minister have the interest or right expropriated by the Crown in accordance with this Part.

• Marginal note:Power of Minister

  (2) The Minister shall have the interest in land or immovable real right expropriated by the Crown in accordance with this Part if

  • (a) the Minister of Transport is of the opinion that the interest or right is required by the railway company for its railway and recommends to the Governor in Council that it be expropriated in accordance with this Part; and

  • (b) the Governor in Council consents to the expropriation of the interest or right.

• Marginal note:Deemed opinion

  (3) If the Minister of Transport is of the opinion that the interest in land or immovable real right is required by the railway company for its railway, the Minister is deemed to be of the opinion that the interest or right is required by the Crown for a public work or other public purpose.

• Marginal note:Charges for services

  (4) The appropriate minister in relation to Part I of this Act may make regulations prescribing fees or charges to be paid by a railway company in respect of an expropriation referred to in subsection (2), and rates of interest payable in respect of those fees and charges.

• Marginal note:Debt due to Her Majesty

  (5) The fees or charges are a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada by the railway company, and shall bear interest at the prescribed rate from the date they are payable.

• Marginal note:Security

  (6) The Minister may require the company to provide security, in an amount determined by the Minister and subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister may specify, for the payment of any fees or charges that are or may become payable under this section.

• Marginal note:Vesting

  (7) For the purpose of this section, the reference to the Crown in section 15 shall be read as a reference to the railway company that made a request under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Restriction on alienation

  (8) If an interest in land or immovable real right that was vested in the Crown before the expropriation is obtained by a railway company under section 15, the railway company may not alienate that interest or right except to transfer it to the Crown.

Marginal note:Notice of intention to expropriate

• 5 (1) If, in the opinion of the Minister, any interest in land or immovable real right is required by the Crown for a public work or other public purpose, the Minister may request the Attorney General of Canada to register a notice of intention to expropriate the interest or right, signed by the Minister, setting out

  • (a) a description of the land;

  • (b) the nature of the interest or right intended to be expropriated and whether the interest or right is intended to be subject to any existing interest in land or immovable real right;

  • (c) an indication of the public work or other public purpose for which the interest or right is required; and

  • (d) a statement that it is intended that the interest or right be expropriated by the Crown.

• Marginal note:Registration of notice

  (2) On receiving from the Minister a request to register a notice of intention described in this section, the Attorney General of Canada shall cause the notice, together with a plan of the land to which the notice relates, to be registered in the office of the registrar for the county, district or registration division in which the land is situated, and, after causing any investigations and searches to be made respecting the state of the title to the land that appear to him or her to be necessary or desirable, the Attorney General of Canada shall provide the Minister with a report setting out the names and latest known addresses, if any, of the persons appearing to have any estate, interest or right in the land, so far as he or she has been able to ascertain them.

• Marginal note:Further indication of public purpose

  (3) If, in the opinion of the Minister, the interest or right to which a notice of intention described in this section relates is required by the Crown for a purpose related to the safety or security of Canada or a state allied or associated with Canada and it would not be in the public interest to indicate that purpose, a statement in the notice to the effect that the interest or right is required by the Crown for such a purpose is sufficient compliance with paragraph (1)(c) without any other indication.

• Marginal note:Further indication of public purpose — additional information

  (4) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister shall, for the purposes of sections 9 and 10 and to the extent that it appears to him or her practicable and in the public interest to do so, make available to any person on request any additional information that is available to the Minister with respect to the public work or other public purpose for which the interest or right to which a notice registered under this section relates is required by the Crown.